An Interview With Daughter Chaos: Building a New Armageddon
Daughter Chaos is an entity born from the ashes of Armageddon. We sat down with Sara Claudius, Antony Hämäläinen and Joey Concepcion to know more about their new melodic project!
Long-time readers may remember 2015 as a really great year for melodic music. Tons and tons of great records with an infinite number of hooks and riffs were instantly imprinted into our brain cells. And, by the middle of that great year, the melodic death metal style was grazed with Armageddon’s Captivity & Devourment, another title that finished to drill our membrane through splashing guitar wizardry.
After conquering several lists, the band, commanded by the Christopher Amott’s blessed guitar style, re-worked their debut, the spectacular and overlooked Crossing the Rubicon, with a new line-up and then… They disappeared from the map, probably transforming into cosmic dust.
The birth of the Daughter Chaos
When we watched at the sky to find an answer, I got contacted with a coded message from another planet that gave me hope. My mission was to keep the otherworldly secret a couple of months and then releasing it to our people. And the time is now!
In reality, the fire inside the Armageddon collective for artistic expression was never extinguished but the unexpected inclusion of Chris Amott to the Dark Tranquillity ranks during their most intense tour run became the biggest issue.
In reality, the band was preparing an unexpected comeback, one that could be worth of their inner changes. So they probably talked with a primal cosmic God and got rechristened as Daughter Chaos.
Sweet, isn’t it?
From now on, my role on this interplanetary convergence is to be the messenger of the Chaos. Therefore, to fulfill this duty, I set a telepathic magical line with bassist Sara Claudius, vocalist Antony Hämäläinen and guitarist Joey Concepcion to know more about their upcoming debut and the story behind this new beginning!
Artwork for the “Intergalactic” Single. Credits: Sara Claudius.
A Toilet ov Hell Interview
Hi Daughter Chaos crew! I am very pleased to meet with you again, my friends, and welcome you once more to the fantastic realms of the Toilet ov Hell. How are things going?
Sara Claudius: Hey Link! We are happy to continue this tradition of speaking with you for Toilet ov Hell.
We are mixing/mastering and preparing to unleash the first EP during this summer of 2019! We are deep in the process, preparing some very heavy tunes for your enjoyment!
That’s really nice to hear, Sara. We saw the release of a couple of snippets the past months and I have been really enjoying your new material. How has been the reception for these first two singles (“Daughter Chaos” and “Intergalactic”)?
Antony Hämäläinen: So far it has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction from everyone! We were pretty sure though that was going to be the perception because we’d already had lots of asking for the band to reunite. So we opened things up with a couple of bangers!
It seems we have plenty of things to talk about! But most importantly, I would like to know a little bit more what happened in Armageddon and how you came with the decision of changing the name. Can you give us some insight to it?
Sara: After the release of Captivity & Devourment, I had gone down some harmful paths in life. I was playing guitar with Wino for a few years and then shortly with The Obsessed, which was a major downward spiral for me.
After Armageddon got back from Mexico, I was on a bad patch of road, and Andrew Pevny (of Framework) was brought in on bass to record Crossing the Rubicon Revisited. Then, Chris took his life focus in a different direction with Dark Tranquillity and decided that he no longer wanted to continue with Armageddon.
By the end of 2018, I was back to myself. The guys could see this. Antony called everyone and we all talked and realized we want to continue playing together, we want to continue the dynamic we have as a group.
It is only right for us to continue under a new moniker and establish ourselves as a new entity since Armageddon is the name of Chris’s solo project band since the 90s (Link’s notes: first 3 records are insanely great too!).
My concept for the next Armageddon album was to call it “Daughter Chaos”. Chris and I had already written the title track back in 2015. Antony suggested that we name the new band that way. We all thought this was a very cool idea, and so it was born.
Chris is very happy to see us all working together, and he encourages this new band.
Well, that’s great. So glad you found a new beginning after the dark times, and that music is again part of it. Are you bringing new influences or styles from now on besides the terrific melodic sound you already mix with extreme metal?
Joey Concepcion: I believe so yes, Andrew and I like to push the boundaries on guitar. In this band, we have no rules when it comes to riffs and songwriting, We take influence from all kinds of music old and new and we incorporate that into our sound.
I understand Chris Amott helped wrote with the band some songs that will be released on the EP. Can you reflect a little bit how was the writing and recording process with him now he is not an active member of Daughter Chaos?
Sara: Yes, so as I mentioned, Chris and I wrote the title track “Daughter Chaos” back in 2015. I have always wanted this song to see the light of day, and so has the rest of the band. With Chris’s blessing, we finished the arrangement, recorded a single version, and let it loose into the world.
“Intergalactic” was a demo that had been started by Chris and Joey, so there are ideas from Chris in there. We finished the song as a band.
The other 3 songs on the EP are written exclusively by the new lineup. We have strong songwriters in this band, and I am very excited about these new songs. I heavily anticipate the moment we will reveal them.
What is the story behind the band’s name? It is the lyrical theme going to follow the story of Captivity and Devourment otherworldly existential thematic?
Sara: Daughter Chaos came to me as a concept having to do with Gaia/Earth being the Daughter of Chaos in ancient memory, and the concept of Chaos as pure potential… fertile biological darkness, meteor impacts, and exploding stars. The key to the name of the band is in the lyrics of the title track “Daughter Chaos”.
So yes, we continue on our journey, and for this EP, Antony and I collaborated lyrically on 3 of the songs, which makes it so interesting and a lot of the fun. He went completely into the storyline, and really inspired me, and in recording/performance he brings life to the themes.
I am so stoked to read the final lyrics, your writing on the previous record was amazing. In other news, what the hell happened with the final line-up? I see new names over there on guitars and drums! And let me tell you the band sounds solid, so far, from what I was hearing from your first live shows.
Sara: Yes, thank you! I am so blown away by this line up of raw talent.
So you already know me, Antony, and Joey. We met Andrew back in 2015 when we toured with his band Framework. Andrew is a very talented musician with a variety of abilities- he brings a lot of technical skills to the table and is currently mixing our EP. He was brought into the Armageddon fold to replace me on bass back in 2016 for Crossing the Rubicon. Now with Daughter Chaos we put him back on the guitar where we can truly showcase his skills as a world-class shredder.
Yanni Sofianos is on drums, and once again we found him through touring with Armageddon, so you can see that everything is closely tied by that vein. Yanni is a stellar drummer- this guy can do everything from very technical, to keeping it raw and real in the groove. He has stepped up our recording process, tracking his own drums, and we are becoming a well-oiled machine despite our long distance scenario. It’s so fun playing to his feet, I really enjoy getting to know his unique style in how he writes his drums parts. I feel super fortunate for this constellation!
Talking about gigs. Any news for tours or upcoming live shows you would like to share with us? Any chance you visit other places as you did with Mexico or the Loud Park fest in Japan?
Sara: We are ready to hit the road and play some shows once this EP is released! It is a dream for us to play in Japan with this lineup.
I am dead set on returning to Mexico to the amazing fans and friends we have there – the Mexican crowds are so full of love and energy. I would also love to cater to South America and bring the showdown to those metal maniacs! We are ready to go anywhere in the world to bring the metal meltdown!!
We are looking for a team of people to support us in doing so, so please reach out to us for any booking or promotion!
What will happen next after the release of the EP? Do you plan to continue this new brand or was just a one-shot to close up Armageddon? Or maybe we can get a full-length album?
Sara: Oh yeah, you better believe it! As soon as this EP is done, we will be working on a full length!
Armageddon suddenly left us melodic seekers into an end road. You were having a new life with Captivity & Devourment, a well-loved record from our friends over here, then you remade Crossing the Rubicon with Antony. Then, it was silence. Tell us you won’t leave us wanting for more music for so long once again!
Antony: We all promise this! There was silence due to everything we explained here, that’s why we changed the name and bring Chris with us in spirit so to speak!
You made a promise, then! Well, my friends. Many thanks for your time and the good chat. I wish you the best on the band’s release and here is hoping we see Daughter Chaos reach intergalactic levels of fame and fortune. See you next time!
Sara: Thank you so much, my friend, for your love and support! We love you and hope to play live for you someday! See you next time!
Be sure to keep up with Daughter Chaos following their social media channels at Facebook and Instagram. They will be releasing their debut EP courtesy of Seeing Red Records, as well!
Photo cover by: Keith Marlowe.
